Reproduced from Coventry Evening News 19 October, 1999

Starr, who has had a string of soul and disco hits since he started on Motown in 1969, has been hired to appear at the 900-capacity Jumpin Jaks live entertainment venue on October 21 and is planning to perform with his 10-piece band.

It will be a home gig for the man behind War, HAPPY Radio and Contact - Starr lives in a 15th century manor house in North Warwickshire.

Based in the Midlands since leaving the United States in 1983, he is still recording and performing live, profiting from the resurgence of 80s music.

Starr's career was on the way down when he decided to quit his homeland and head east - and it was a wise move.

"I always thought I would be busy and that there was a lot of work here," he said, "that's the reason I decided to come over here in the first place.

"The whole music scene was dying in the early 80s in the US unless you happened to be a punk or a rapper - I'm certainly neither of those.

"Motown and soul has remained popular over here and now the growth in Latin American salsa is keeping live dance music popular and I think that's great."

Starr was born in 1942 in Nashville and started performing in the mid 1950s with his first band the Future Tones.

He then served two years in the army in America and Germany before being taken on by Motown.

His voice had a rough quality that held him apart from his fellow Motown artists.

He has had a diverse period since moving to England - including a release with Coventry-born producer Pete Waterman and singing the USA national anthem before the Frank Bruno-Oliver McCall heavyweight world title bout.

He is firmly rooted in the Midlands now and most of his band come from the region - the reason for him settling here in the first place.

Starr is not knew to Jumpin Jaks and has performed at most of the 11 Rank Entertainment-owned venues around the country.

"I think Jaks will go down a storm in Coventry. I know the city well and have performed at Jaguar in the past, and Jumpin Jaks will be something totally new for the people of Coventry.

"I have read that SkyDome is bringing jobs to the city but it it'll give an enormous lift to the centre of Coventry and be great for the nightlife."